Annual Brisbane Global Tens to Launch Southern Hemisphere Rugby Season from 2017

Aug 4 • General News, International • 1466 Views • Comments Off on Annual Brisbane Global Tens to Launch Southern Hemisphere Rugby Season from 2017

Three hundred of the world’s finest rugby players representing 14 clubs from six countries – and an army of fans – will descend upon Suncorp Stadium for two days of rugby heaven in February for the Brisbane Global Tens.

Founded by major events company Duco Events – the creator of the spectacularly successful Downer NRL Auckland Nines tournament – in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and Brisbane City Council through Brisbane Marketing, the Brisbane Global Tens kicks off next year and will be a fixture on the rugby calendar for the next four seasons.

“The Brisbane Global Tens is the pre-eminent rugby tens tournament on the planet on every measure,” David Higgins, the director of Duco Events said. “The quality of clubs, players and venue, the participation and prize money, broadcast reach and audience size is unprecedented, making it a truly unique event that will become an iconic fixture in the international sporting calendar.”

The inaugural event on February 11 and 12, 2017 will feature ten professional franchises from Australia and New Zealand as well as French powerhouse club Toulon, Japan’s Panasonic Wild Knights, South Africa’s Blue Bulls and the Samoan international team.

“We expect tickets to be in huge demand so to avoid missing out we urge fans to move quick and purchase their tickets from http://www.ticketek.com.au/BrisbaneTens,” Higgins said.

Tickets go on sale to the General Public at 9:00am on Thursday 11 August.

“For Duco this has been a three-year journey filled with numerous challenges. Creating something new is never easy. It takes courage and vision. That this event has come together so spectacularly is a credit to everyone who has backed it,” Higgins said.
Tickets go on sale to the General Public at 9:00am on Thursday 11 August.

Queensland’s Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Kate Jones, said securing the event was a coup for Brisbane and Queensland.

“We look forward to welcoming rugby fans from all over Australia and the world to Queensland for the Brisbane Global Tens,” she said. “Queensland will transform into the centre of the rugby world and deliver an exciting week of events leading up to the games, showcasing our state to visitors.

“The Brisbane Global Tens will reinforce Brisbane’s reputation as a premier sporting event capital.”

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said that the city is proud to be hosting rugby’s newest and most exciting event.

“Brisbane will be the centre of the rugby universe during the Brisbane Global Tens and I encourage everyone to make tracks to Suncorp Stadium and show their colours for their favourite teams,” he said. “Brisbane will roll out the welcome mat for the visiting army of fans, who will discover a fun and thriving city with lively venues and great entertainment options.”
David Hanham, the deputy chief executive of host union Queensland Rugby Union, described the event as “a game changer for Rugby in this state”.

“We’re delighted that the eyes of the rugby world will be on Brisbane for a week each February,” he said. “The economic, social and cultural legacy that this event will deliver for the game and stakeholders in Queensland over the next four years cannot be underestimated.”

Rachael Carroll, Chief Executive Duco Events Australia, said Brisbane fully deserved its place in the sporting spotlight and will without doubt be a wonderful host city for what will become a marquee annual event for years to come.

“Showcasing the very best in sports entertainment, the Brisbane Global Tens will draw fans from all over Australasia and beyond,” Carroll said. “Brisbane will come alive not just for the two days of rugby heaven on February 11 and 12, but for an entire week as the city shows the world just how much it has to offer. The spotlight will be on Brisbane and Queensland next summer – and we are ready to shine.

“The unwavering support of Tourism and Events Queensland, Brisbane City Council through Brisbane Marketing, the Australian Rugby Union, New Zealand Rugby the international clubs and the Super clubs – particularly the hosts Queensland Rugby – has made this grand global collaboration become a reality.”

ENDORSEMENTS FROM PLAYERS AND COACHES
Highlanders captain Ben Smith: “It’s a great way to hit the 2017 season running, in a great festival-type format that we know our team is absolutely going to love. We have lots of fans in Queensland and we can’t wait to get there and play in front of them and our travelling kiwi supporters with this awesome event.”

Former All Blacks centre and current Blues coach Tana Umaga: “The tens will be a great addition to the rugby calendar. Tens is fast paced, with extra space, but plenty of room for big forwards as well, so in that way it sets it apart from 15s and sevens. There’s a lot of excitement in the team about this fresh new event. We expect it will be competitive and exciting to watch.”

St.George Queensland Reds’ fullback Karmichael Hunt: “I’m really looking forward to playing in the Brisbane Global Tens and testing myself in this exciting form of the game. This is taking place on our home patch and in front our home fans, so the Reds will prepare thoroughly to put on the best possible show and be in the mix for the silverware. It’s going to be a great tournament for the players from all of the clubs involved, as well as fans and the game in general. I’ve never played tens but it’s a pretty interesting concept and I’m looking forward to seeing how we go.”

Former Wallabies and Crusaders coach and current Panasonic Wild Knights coach Robbie Deans: “You could argue that this will be the biggest gathering of world class rugby players in one city in the history of the game. To gather all these teams together in one place is a remarkable achievement. I’m really looking forward to seeing how our boys stack up against the likes of Toulon. The timing is great as a lead-in to the 2017 season proper. Suncorp is the perfect venue for an event like this. Caxton Street will be buzzing. Tens involves a greater variety of players than sevens but will be faster than 15-a-side. The set pieces will be genuine contests and with only ten players on the field there is a lot more space to attack. It will be a festival of rugby and a fun event. There will be a lot of intrigue about how players and teams adapt – but most of all it will be a great spectacle.”

Former All Blacks centre and current Samoa coach Alama Ieremia: “We are grateful and appreciate the opportunity as we see this as an international global event in which elite professional teams and clubs will showcase their talents. We are excited and are very keen to do well in this tournament. We are looking forward to mixing it up with the major teams.”

Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais: “The tournament will come at a perfect time for us, as we will be entering our final preparations going into the 2017 season. It will give us a final platform to evaluate new strategies and plans that we would have been working on through the pre-season. This will also provide an ideal opportunity for some of our younger players to experience playing abroad and the effects of touring.”

BRISBANE GLOBAL TENS – AT A GLANCE

Ten Australian and New Zealand professional clubs and four elite invitational teams will compete (in 2017 the event will feature Toulon, the Bulls, Samoa and the Panasonic Wild Knights)
Ten-players-per-side, ten-minutes-per-half, knockout tournament
Culmination of a week-long festival of rugby
16 hours of compelling live rugby, featuring 28 matches played over two days
Broadcast live across Australia, New Zealand, UK, Japan, Africa, France and other major international markets
Held annually on the second weekend of February, two weeks prior to the start of the Super Rugby season, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Launches the rugby season in Australia and New Zealand
Sanctioned by the Australian Rugby Union and New Zealand Rugby

BRISBANE GLOBAL TENS RULES

The rules of the Brisbane Global Tens are based on World Rugby’s official rugby tens rules
Essentially a hybrid of the traditional 15-a-side game and rugby sevens, the objective is to promote free-flowing and fast paced rugby, while still retaining the physical intensity and enthralling forward and backline play that rugby fans love
Ten players per team on field, with unlimited interchanges
Ten minute halves, five minute half-time
Knockout matches drawn after regulation are continued into extra time, in multiple five-minute periods
All conversion attempts must be drop-kicked
Conversions must be taken within 40 seconds of scoring a try
Five player scrums
Scoring team kicks off
Yellow cards net a three-minute suspension
Referees rule on advantage quickly (where one play usually ends advantage)